Classic war movie

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2011)

The Longest Day is a ambitious movie that tries to show everything that happened that fateful day, the D-Day. It is very long, as it is ambitious enough to tell the story both from Allied and German viewpoints, and do so at least in a plausible way, if not wholly truthfully.
That means a huge cast list, and it is a little difficult to keep track of everyone and their own little subplots. However, it also manages to deliver an overlook with each little subplot augmenting each other. As a story it is magnificent. Despite the known outcome it kept me on the edge. Helping is the for its time good effects and huge scenes with great masses of extras. It is very clear that few expenses were cut making this film. The huge cast also allows for a lot of famous actors appearing, most notably John Wayne, Richard Burton and Sean Connery, among many others.
Even though it is a little too long for my taste it was never boring or dull. It kept the tension and the interest by combining calm scenes with action filled ones. In that way there were never too much of either one.
The Longest Day is getting a little old nowadays but still keeps it place as one impressive war movie. Only a few movies are made in this scale anymore. I can see how it has influenced the entire genre since. It is simply put a classic.
8/10